Four Eyes & Freckles
by NinjaQueen33
Summary: A little story of how Ace started wearing glasses due to his not so great eyesight. A special birthday fic for the feisty freckled icon we all know & love.


**Headcanon**: Ace wears reading glasses

Okay so I know it was 1/1 yesterday in Japan but I couldn't pump this out fast enough. Over here in America, it's currently 1/1 so I guess I'm still good. But anyways, Happy Birthday, Ace! Happy Birthday, Oda! And Happy freaking new year, my dear readers! Let's start 2020 off amazing y'all :)

Here's my self-obligatory birthday fic I made for Ace. Happy reading!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own One Piece in any shape or form.

* * *

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy walk through town, just leaving from a restaurant that they skipped the bill from. They caught their breaths as they walked since they were running for two minutes straight, trying to get away from the angry waiter.

Sabo stopped in his tracks when saw a poster that caught his eye. When he ran over to it, Ace and Luffy faced each other with questionable looks and ran up to catch up with him. Sabo's eyes shined as he got excited over the poster.

"What's the matter, Sabo?" Luffy asked.

"Someone is selling some goggles for a hundred beli. Remember my original ones broke a while back?"

Luffy nodded, his mouth forming an "o" shape. "Oh yeah..."

Ace walked up to the poster and squinted his eyes to read it, as if he was struggling to see the words. Sabo noticed this from the corner of his eye but didn't speak on it.

"Need...new goggles? Then..." He stepped closer and squinted his eyes some more. "Come to the Gray Terminal near...the three steel barrels with...one hundred beli...and they'll be yours." He read off of the little poster.

"We don't have a hundred beli though..." Luffy noted.

"We can just rob some guys in town and get some quick cash just like that." Sabo snapped at "like that", emphasizing how effortless it'll be.

"Oh, that's right! Great idea Sabo."

"For now, let's go hunt for some dinner and head home. Tomorrow, we'll scrape up some quick cash and head over to the spot to get the goggles." Ace decided.

Sabo nodded with a smile. "Agreed."

The three continued walking towards the direction of Mt. Corvo, the sun was beginning to rest for the day. Sabo slowed down and gently pulled Ace back from walking side by side with Luffy. The younger sibling didn't notice it though and kept happily walking towards the forest.

"Ace, can I ask you something?"

Ace slowly nodded, "Sure."

"Can you not read words clearly from a distance?"

"What do you mean?" Ace questioned, lifting a brow.

"I noticed that you were squinting your eyes a lot when you read that poster earlier. It looked like you were struggling to read the words."

"So, what are you saying?"

"I think you might need to start wearing glasses. They can help you read things so you won't have to struggle to see the words clearly all the time."

Ace drawback at the suggestion. Glasses? Him? Wear glasses?

The freckled boy shook his head in disapproval. "No way. Glasses are lame. There's no way someone like me needs those stupid things. I can read just fine, Sabo. I just squint a little when reading that's all. It's really no big deal."

Sabo frowned at his stubborn nature, he knew deep down he would react like this. "Ace, listen to me, you do need glasses. You don't just squint a little, you squint really hard, to the point that you have to move closer just to see the words. Also, glasses aren't lame. I think they'll look cool on you-"

"No Sabo, I'm not wearing glasses. I can see perfectly fine. Now drop it, alright?"

Sabo didn't say anything back and simply sighed in defeat to his obstinateness. Ace glanced at him before running ahead to catch up with Luffy. Sabo stared at Ace as he was walking behind the two. Worry sat on his face as the thought of Ace's eyesight getting worse ran through his mind.

**ooo**

**A week later**

The boys did their one on one matches in the late morning. When they were done, they walked back to Dadan's place from their intense fights with each other.

As they were close to the house, Ace tripped over something. His body fell roughly on the ground, causing him to scrape his cheek. Ace groaned in pain as Sabo and Luffy rushed over to him.

"Ace, are you okay?" Luffy said, showing obvious concern.

Ace sat up and wiped some blood off his freckled cheek. "Yeah. I don't know what made me fall though..."

"It was a log. It was clearly in front of you, but apparently, you didn't see it." Sabo pointed out, throwing him a look.

Ace turned around to see the small log laying inches away from his feet. "Huh? How did I miss that?"

"Did you not see that?" Luffy asked.

"I don't know. I just saw a brown thing up ahead, but I thought it was part of the tree roots."

Sabo sweatdropped, "Okay that's it, you really need glasses. This is the fourth time this week you didn't see something in clear sight."

Ace sat up and wiped the rest of the blood off his cheek. "I don't need stupid glasses. I just wasn't looking where I was walking. I told you to leave that alone Sabo."

"But Ace, I think Sabo is right."

"Shut up, Luffy! No one asked you!" Ace snapped. He quickly stood up and angrily walked over towards the house. His two brothers saw steam billowing out his ears as they watched him leave.

Sabo sighed, "He's the most hard-headed person I've ever met. He's like a mule."

Luffy nodded, "I agree."

Luffy and Sabo saw Makino and the mayor up ahead. They were both standing outside the house, chatting with some of the bandits.

Luffy gasped and ran over to hug Makino. Sabo lifted up a wave, greeting her with a polite smile. Soon an imaginary light bulb went off above his head. "Ah-ha."

Sabo walked up and tapped Makino on her arm. "Um, Miss Makino?"

The woman pulled away from her hug with Luffy. She turned around to face Sabo, a kind smile gracing her face. "Yes, Sabo?"

"Can I speak with you privately?"

Makino blinked from surprise but nodded. "Sure thing."

**ooo**

"So Ace needs glasses huh?" She said.

Sabo nodded, "Yeah, his vision is getting worse. Just a moment ago he tripped on a log that was in plain sight. But every time I tell him that he needs glasses he just gets mad and brushes me off. I don't know what else to do, but I do know that want to help him out before his eyesight gets even worse."

Makino placed a finger on her chin. "Hmm, I see. Well, I know a little test I can do to see if his vision needs them or not. Can you go get him and Luffy for me?"

"Sure."

Ace sat in front of Makino, lifting up a confused brow. Makino was busy writing something down on a sheet of paper with Luffy standing by her side, watching her with curiosity.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Ace asked.

"I want to test you three on how good your vision is. Is that okay?"

Thankfully, Ace thought nothing of it and just shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, whatever."

Luffy jumped up, ready to participate. "Ooh, is this a game?"

"Not quite, but I can be seen as a little game. All I want you three to do is read the row of letters the best you can while covering one side of your eye. If you can't read the bottom rows then just try your best at reading it. After that, you'll do the same thing while you covering the other eye. Sounds good?"

The three looked at each other but nodding at her.

Makino clapped her hands together and smiled. "Good, let's get started."

After she was done testing each of them, she took some time to write some conclusions down in her little notebook. Luffy tried to take a peek but Makino waved him off while chuckling at his eagerness. "Give me a second, Luffy."

"But I want to see how I did." Luffy whined.

"I just need to write down one last thing for Ace and...done. Okay, I have everyone's results."

Sabo and Ace walked up and stood next to Luffy.

"So, what does my test say!?" Luffy asked first.

"Luffy, you did really well. You have excellent eyesight. In fact, you have twenty-twenty vision."

Luffy jumped up and did a little dance. "Woohoo! I have perfect eyes. You hear that Sabo? I have really awesome vision!"

Sabo patted Luffy on the back. "That's amazing, Luffy. Now let's see if I have good vision."

"Sabo, you had a little trouble reading the last row, but overall you did great. Your left vision is slightly off from your right one but not enough for you to need glasses."

Sabo smiled, rubbing the back of his curly hair. "That's good. Thanks, Makino."

"Anytime. And Ace..."

Ace brows perked up, silently waiting for his answer.

"You had trouble reading most of the rows. It seems that your right vision is way off from your left vision. I'm sorry to tell you this but you're going to need reading glasses."

"What!?" Ace said in disbelief.

"I told you so." Sabo crossed his arms while shaking his head.

Luffy laughed, "Too bad Ace, you have to get glasses."

A vein popped in Ace's forehead, leading him to smack Luffy on the head. "Shut up!"

Ace turned back to Makino, "What you mean? I thought I did well on that test."

"You were on a roll for the first couple rows. But for the last eight rows, you said the wrong letter many times and I even had to help you through the last two rows. Now you don't need to wear the glasses all the time, it's just for whenever you're reading something."

Ace crossed his arms and turned his head away. "I don't even read books, so I don't em'. All I do is hunt, fight, and collect cash for me and Sabo's savings. I can survive just fine without them."

"Ace, stop being so difficult. You still need them even if you don't read books that much. You read signs, maps, menus, names of places. You read something every single day. If you don't get glasses soon, you eventually be blind." Sabo advised.

Luffy turned pale, "Really!?"

"I wouldn't say blind, but Ace's vision will become worse if we don't do something about it soon." Makino bent down to Ace's level. "How about this Ace, I'll come back next week with ten different pairs of glasses. I'll let you try all of them on and we'll see how they look on you. If you don't like all of them then I'll get you more pairs to try on until we find one that you like."

Ace thought about it for a moment before looking up at her. "You promise to get me the coolest ones you can find?"

Makino giggled as she ruffled his wavy hair. "I'll make sure to get ones that will make you even more handsome than you are now."

Red colored over Ace dotted cheeks. He shifted away from Makino's doe-like eyes. "Ju-Just make sure they make me look badass."

"Ace are you blushing again?" Sabo teased, poking at his face.

Ace slapped his hand away. "Shut up, Sabo!"

**ooo**

The next week, Makino came by with the mayor during the late morning. She had ten pairs of reading glasses in her bag, each pair was secured in its own case. The boys came back from their morning training, they rushed over to Makino as soon as they saw her.

Makino turned around from talking with Dadan. She greeted the three boys with a welcoming smile.

Dadan blew out smoke from her cigarette. "Speak of the little devils."

"Hey, you three. I was just asking about you."

"Good morning, Makino." Sabo smiled.

"What have you been up to?" Makino asked.

"We were playing around at our treehouse then we trained all morning." Luffy explained.

"Do you have the glasses?" Ace asked.

Makino nodded, "Sure do. We can start trying them on whenever you're ready."

Ace sighed and sat down on the nearby crate. "Let's just get this over with."

Makino took the first pair out of its case and handed them over to Ace. "Try these first."

Ace took the glasses and carefully put them on. After he set them on the bridge of his nose, he blinked a couple times as his vision adjusted to the lens. He turned around to face Ace and Sabo, "How do they look?"

The two stared at him while puffing their cheeks out. They burst out laughing as they dropped to the ground.

"Tho-Those glasses are so big on your face!" Luffy pointed at Ace.

Sabo held on his stomach, "You look like one of those librarian ladies!"

A vein popped in Ace's forehead, immediately taking off the glasses. "I knew wearing these things would be stupid!"

"Stop it with the teasing, you two. You're making Ace feel insecure about this and it's not nice. Now, tell him that you're sorry." Makino scolded them. Luffy and Sabo quickly got their act together, both rubbing the back of their heads apologetically.

"Sorry, Ace." Luffy said.

"I'm sorry Ace, I didn't mean to make fun of you. It's just that those glasses look really big on you." Sabo said.

"Ace, this just the first pair. We have nine more pairs to go through. Remember that if you don't like any of them, I'll go back to the glasses shop and get you some more. I'll get you as many pairs to try on until you find one to your liking, okay?"

Ace huffed and handed back the glasses. "Okay. Where is the next pair?"

Makino sighed with relief, happy that Ace didn't give up that easily. She took the first pair from him and switch it out for the second pair.

Ace tried on the second pair of glasses.

"Well, what do you think?" Makino lifted the mirror up to him.

"I don't really like how the lens is circle-shaped. They make me look like one of those scientist guys."

Ace tried on the third pair.

"Well?"

"These look too plain. I look like a boring old man in these."

Ace, eventually, tried on the sixth pair.

"What about these?"

Ace shrugged, "I'm not really feeling them. Plus, the lens makes my vision blurry a little bit."

"Hmm, the lens must be too strong for your eyes."

Three more pairs later, Makino pulled out the last pair of glasses she brought with her. "Okay Ace, this is the last pair. If you don't like this one then I'll bring some more next week. Try this one on."

Ace received the glasses and examined them. The glasses had rectangular-shaped lens and a thin black frame. He put them on and blinked as his eyes adjusted seeing through the lens. A few seconds later his vision saw everything clearly, the lens wasn't too thick like the others.

Makino brought the mirror up to his face. "Well?"

For once in his life, Ace actually liked the reflection he was seeing in the mirror. The glasses fit his face perfectly, his eyes didn't look huge like a bug's. The proportion of his eyes and his glasses seem to match well together. In a way, the glasses complemented his freckles since it was right under the bottom of the frames. For the first time ever, Ace liked how he looked.

"Woah...these look..."

"So cool!" Luffy beamed with sparkles forming around him.

"You look so sophisticated, Ace." Sabo complemented.

Makino smiled, "I agree, they look really good on you."

Ace's face turned red from all the good responses he was receiving. "You guys really think so?"

"Well, of course. The other pairs didn't really suit you but this one does for some reason. But it comes down to how you feel about them." Sabo said.

Ace took one more look in the mirror. "I really like them."

"So, are those the ones you choose?" Makino asked.

Ace turned to her and nodded. "Yeah, I'll pick these."

Makino smiled and clasped her hands together. "Great! It looks like I don't have to get any more pairs. I'm glad you like them." She handed him the glasses case and napkin cleaner. "Your lens is going to get smudged so make sure to clean them every so often."

Ace nodded.

Makino stood up. "Now, that we got that done, I'll go prepare lunch."

Luffy jumped up, "Ooh, you're making lunch for us this time?"

Makino walked inside the house with Luffy running over to walk beside her. Ace walked behind them with his hands jammed into his pockets. Sabo smiled and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Now you don't have to trip on rocks and logs that were in plain sight anymore."

Ace couldn't help but chuckle at that. He rolled his eyes and playfully jabbed his best friend in his rib. "Ha ha, very funny smartass."

**ooo**

The next day, the boys went out to go hunting for some breakfast. After they caught it, cooked it, and began eating it, Sabo noticed that Ace had his glasses on all morning.

"Yo, Ace. You do know that those glasses are just to help you read stuff, right? You don't have to wear them twenty-four seven."

Ace adjusted his glasses by pushing it up to the bridge of his nose. "I know. I just want to get the hang of them."

"Well just be careful with them, you could easily break them when you're fighting. Glasses aren't cheap, you know. It'll probably take a long time for Makino to buy you a replacement pair if you do break them."

Ace kept nodding as he took a bite into the fish they caught. "I know. I know."

Luffy turned to Ace after finishing his share of the fish. "So Ace, can you like, see things now?"

"I always could see things. The glasses just give me a clearer view of my vision."

Luffy nodded, "Oh..."

"Hey guys, later on, let's go rob some cash for our pirate savings. I heard these thugs in town have a lot of money from a deal they made with some old rich guy."

Ace and Luffy nodded, down for whatever Sabo has planned.

**...**

That afternoon, the three went into town to steal the money from the thugs. They fought them off as usual and gave most of them a run for their money. Ace was fighting one of the last thugs, but he was putting up a good fight against him. It eventually led to the thug to get the upper hand and punched him on his cheek. The impact of the punch was so hard that it knocked off his glasses. The thug chuckled as he watched Ace hit the stone ground.

After Sabo kicked his opponent in the face, he snapped his head towards Ace's direction. "Ace!"

"You're gonna get it now, owl eyes." The thug said, walking up to Ace.

Ace struggled to sit up and paused for a moment. "What did you just say?"

The thug wicked smirk didn't go unchanged. "I said you're gonna get it now, owl eyes."

"Owl eyes!?" Ace fumed. That set him off enough to gather enough strength to punch his lights out. "The hell did you just call me!"

Sabo sweatdropped. "_That's all it took for you to defeat him...?_"

The three quickly stole their cash, stuffing as much as they can in their bags.

"I think we have enough. Come on, let's go." Sabo said.

As they began to run off, Ace quickly stopped in place. "Oh man, where are my glasses?"

"C'mon Ace, we need to go before the police come." Luffy told him.

"Not without my glasses, first." Ace ran back and frantically searched for his specs. It took about a minute or two of searching until he found them near the alleyway. He sighed with relief and bent down to pick them up. "There they are."

After putting them on, he ran over to catch up with Luffy and Sabo. The three ran away quickly as they heard the local policemen whistles in the distance.

As the three boys walked through the Gray Terminal, Ace cleaned off his glasses with his shirt. He placed them back over his eyes and blinked to get his vision used to the lens again. Sabo stared at him as he crossed his arms. "I didn't expect you to start caring for your glasses so quickly. It's been only a day since you had them and you're already making sure you don't lose them."

"I never realized how much they help me see better. I like how my vision improves as soon as I put them on. Why didn't I get these things sooner?"

Sabo rolled his eyes, "You could have gotten them sooner if you weren't so stubborn with me every time I said that you needed them."

Luffy groaned as his stomach rumbled. "Man, I'm so hungry now. Let's go get some dinner soon guys." Luffy ran ahead of them, heading towards Mt. Corvo forest.

Ace and Sabo were too tired to chase after him, so they just kept walking together.

"Hey, Sabo?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for talking to Makino about getting me glasses."

Sabo was surprised by this, "How did you...?"

"I overheard you telling her about it. I may have crappy eyesight but I can hear really good. Turns out I really did need glasses so I appreciate you worrying about me."

Sabo chuckled and patted Ace on the back. "It's no problem. Just a brother looking out for one of his brothers."

Ace formed a small smile and wrapped his arm around Sabo's shoulder.

"Now, let's go find Luffy before he gets into some kind of trouble again."

Sabo followed suit and wrapped his arm around Ace's shoulder. "Good idea."

The two walked side by side, both of their arms around each other shoulders. The two older brothers lazily searched for their little brother as the sun started to set for the day.

**ooo**

**Five months later**

Ace felt Luffy tug on his blanket. Inconveniently, it had to be before he was drifting off to sleep. He turned his head to look at Luffy with a grumpy, sleepy look. "What, Luffy?"

"I had a nightmare about Sabo."

Ace sat up and gave him a serious yet concerned look. "Another one?"

Luffy nodded as tears rolled down his face. "This is the third nightmare I had since..." Luffy stopped himself before speaking the hard truth. He sniffled as he quietly wept in front of Ace.

Ace stood up and walked over to the right side of the treehouse. He picked up a book that was one of Sabo's favorite books to read. He always used to tell him that he would read it whenever he felt sad or scared about something. Turning to Luffy, he walked back to their sleeping spot and opened the case to his glasses.

After he put them on, he patted the empty spot next to him. "C'mere. Let me read you a story."

Luffy wiped his tears away and shifted over to the spot. Luffy laid his head on his brother's freckled arm as Ace opened up the picture book. The book was titled "_The Kingdom of Happiness_", written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda.

"The citizens of the forest kingdom led a peaceful lifestyle by following the Toad King's two rules. Practicing the act of kindness every day and laughing at least once a day..." Despite the darkness within the treehouse, the moon provided enough light for Ace and Luffy to see the pages. Ace pointed at the illustrations of the creatures to Luffy, trying his best to distract him from his nightmare scare.

His eyes trailed along the string of words, his vision getting a clear view of the black font. The vivid images of the magical beings brought the story to life with its vibrant colors & light-hearted humor. Ace was starting to understand why this book put Sabo at ease. It can be seen as a cheesy children's book, but in all honestly, it was a really well-written story with beautiful, detailed artwork.

Luffy briefly looked up at Ace, seeing how his eyes concentrated on the story from behind the lens. For some reason that he can't explain, he felt safe as he heard Ace's calm voice read out the story to him. He nestled closer to him as Ace turned to the next page. His eyes began to feel heavy, which eventually led him to fall back to sleep.

By the time Ace finished the short story, Luffy's snores roared throughout the treehouse. Ace sighed and took his glasses off. He picked Luffy up and placed him back on his sleeping spot. He brought his blanket over his body, doing it quietly as possible so he won't wake him up.

Ace closed the book and put it back on the side of the treehouse. He wrapped his blanket over his body and thought about Sabo until he finally drifted off to slumber.

**ooo**

**Ace, 13.**

Dadan walked towards the front door to get a night smoke. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Ace sprawled out next to Luffy. Luffy came down with a nasty fever this morning, so Ace was taking care of him all day. He probably was exhausted from constantly checking up on him and making sure he feels better.

The older woman noticed that he still had his glasses on and a book was open on his chest. The book was titled, "_How to take care of colds and fevers for beginners_". By the looks of it, Ace has been studying all night on how to make Luffy's fever go away. He must have gotten tired from all the late-night studying and fell asleep, forgetting to take his glasses off. Dadan sighed, this wasn't the first time Ace slept with his glasses on and she has a feeling it won't be the last.

"You'll eventually break your glasses if you keep forgetting to take them off."

She bent down and carefully pulled off his glasses that sat over his closed eyes. After she set them carefully in his case, she followed by pulling the book off of his chest. She picked up a blanket nearby and brought it over Ace's body.

Standing over them, she saw Ace sleeping soundly with Luffy snoring right beside him. Even though Luffy was in pain and discomfort all day, sleeping with Ace right by his side unintentionally brought a peaceful look on his face.

Dadan smiled at the sight and continued walking towards the front door. Closing the door behind her, she lit her cigarette to have her nightly smoke. Taking a drag, she blew out a puff of smoke right after. She looked up at the full moon with a proud grin sitting on her face.

"Goodnight, you four-eyed brat."

**ooo**

**Ace, 17.**

"To get out of Wano, we need to go through here to get back to the current. After going through the wild current, we should be back on the main ocean." Deuce explained.

Ace squinted really hard as he looked at the map.

Deuce noticed this and looked over to him. "Ace?"

"Hmm?"

"You're squinting again."

Ace pulled back and chuckled at his crewmate. "Thanks for the subtle reminder that I can't see."

"Anything for my blind as a bat captain." Deuce chuckled.

Ace shook his head as he reached in his pocket for his glasses. The empty feeling in his pocket made him do a double-take. He checked and patted all of the pockets of his shorts, confused and worried about the whereabouts of his glasses.

"Where the hell did my glasses go?"

"I believe Little Miss O-Tama has them." Mihar said, pointing towards her.

Ace looked over and saw Tama staring at everything in wonder with his glasses on. He sighed and walked over to her. He gave her a scolding look as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Tama, I believe you have something that's mine."

The little girl turned around with a sneaky smile on her face. "Ace, I didn't know you wore glasses. I always wondered what it felt like looking through them. Everything looks so clear and big."

"I know but you can mess up your vision if you look through them too long. Now can you kindly give them back to me, because I need them." Ace bent down to her level.

Tama took a good look at him. "You need these things to see the map?"

Ace nodded.

"And that map will guide you and your crew out of here?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll keep these so you can't read the map. So you won't be able to leave and can stay here in Wano forever." Tama laughed as she ran off, still wearing Ace's glasses.

Ace panicked as Tama ran far off. He ran after her while his crew laughed at the sight. It wasn't every day that you see a little girl running off with a man's reading glasses at an attempt to make him stay here with her.

Even though Ace was intent on getting his glasses back from Tama, he thought it was cute that she went as far as to steal his glasses to make him stay in Wano. That honestly made him wanted to stay here for a little bit longer. But if he didn't leave sooner than later, he really wouldn't be able to bring himself to leave Tama. He already gotten attached to her, so it was hard enough as it is.

To soak up his last full day in Wano, he purposely slowed down and let Tama run around the village with his glasses hanging for dear life on her nose.

**ooo**

**Ace, 20.**

Ace couldn't believe what he was seeing. The wide goofy smile, the optimistic energy radiating off of the picture, the straw hat. This had to be who he thought it was. He quickly dug in his pocket and pulled out the glasses from his case. He put on his glasses so he could get a better look at the bounty poster.

The words "Monkey D. Luffy" in bold black letters sat across the clear lens. He couldn't suppress the toothy smile that lifted his freckled cheeks upward. His eyes studied the picture, taking in the clear details that his glasses blessed him with.

Marco walked up to his crewmate, raising a confusing brow at Ace's face.

"Yo, Ace?"

Ace looked up, greeting him with a huge smile still on his face. "Oh hey, Marco. Just the person I wanted to see."

"I never knew that you, of all people, wore glasses."

"Yeah, I wore reading glasses since I was a kid. But that's beside the point, look Marco...this is my baby brother. You know, the one I told about."

Marco nodded as he took a look at the poster. "Oh yeah, the one you told me about non-stop."

Ace playful rolled his eyes. "New bounties just released this morning and he was the first one I saw. I can't believe my kid brother is seventeen already. Damn, time flies...it was just yesterday that he was that dorky little seven-year-old that followed me around like a lost puppy. I have to make sure to put his picture up in my cabin. I also have to check up on him one of these days, to make sure he's okay..."

Marco watched Ace during his occasional "brotherly" monologues. Normally, the first division commander would just let Ace talk and he'll give a nod here and there to let him know that he's listening. But in all honesty, his ears tuned out around the second sentence.

This time though, Marco was more concerned about the spectacles sitting on the bridge of his friend's nose. Even though Ace is one of the youngest crew members on the ship, he looked significantly older with just a simple pair of glasses on. Talking about his little brother didn't make it any better. The sight honestly made Ace look like a proud father who just witnessed his son's achievements.

Thatch was combing out his pompadour hair as he approached his two friends. "What are you two up to this afternoon?" He stopped combing his locks when he saw that Ace was wearing glasses. "When did you start wearing glasses Ace? You've been with us for about a year and a half now and I never seen you wear those things."

"Join the club. He looks like an old man doesn't he?"

Thatch chuckled, "Older than pops himself."

Ace ignored their teasing and shoved the bounty poster up close to Thatch's face. "Take a lookie here, Thatch. This is my little brother! He's a pirate now! Isn't it exciting!?"

Thatch politely pushed the bounty poster out of his face. "Well, it's more exciting for you than it is for me. But I'm happy for you nevertheless. Let me see what bounty he's starting with."

Thatch eyes trailed along with the black numbers that sat under the newbie pirate's name. The cook's eyes bulge out of his head when he saw the numbers, "30, 000, 000". "Holy smokes, that much already and he's just starting out. What the hell has your brother been doing to get thirty million beli on his name as a rookie?"

Ace chuckled at Thatch. "I don't know but I know for sure it was because of something crazy. That kid has a talent for always getting into trouble."

As Ace admired the bounty poster some more, Marco and Thatch could see his eyes shine from behind the glasses lens. They looked at each other and smiled at Ace's heartwarming love for his brother.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I gotta show this to pops! Here Thatch..." Ace took off his glasses. "Hold these for me and make sure they don't get smudged. Glasses are a pain to clean when they have smudges all over the lens. I'll be right back."

Ace ran off over to where Whitebeard was usually sitting before Thatch could even protest. Marco let out a small chuckle, "Looks like you're his glasses sitter."

Thatch sighed and put on his glasses. "Well if I gotta watch them, I want to at least see how he sees outta these things."

Haruta walked up, politely waving at his crewmates. "Good afternoon guys. Woah, Thatch, I didn't know you wore glasses. They give you that mature sort of look that you always lacked."

Marco burst out laughing as Thatch's eye twitched at Haruta's teasing. "These are Ace's glasses. He told me to watch them while he shows Pops something."

Haruta froze with a wave of shock settling on his face. "HUUUUHHHH? Ace wears glasses!?"

Marco sweatdropped, "Okay, that's it. Later on, I'm holding a special meeting just so everyone can see that Ace wears reading glasses. This is getting ridiculous."

* * *

Hoped you enjoyed this. I hope all of you have a fantastic 2020. Stay safe out there and be kind to one another.

Much love.

_**"And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been." - Rainer Maria Rilke**_

-NinjaQueen33


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